Article conveyer belt and coin sorting device

ABSTRACT

An article conveyer belt assembly used for example, in a coin sorting device for positively pushing an article, such as a coin along a support surface is provided. A toothed belt has teeth for transmission of power by mounting a plurality of pushers on the belt with a connector removably mounted with a connecting body, a first holder and a second holder spaced a distance from each other to hold onto the conveyor belt. One of the first and second holders has a hook member to close a spaced opening at one end. The first and second holders are cantilevered to be mounted on a conveyor belt. At the other end of the connector body a pusher unit has a first shaft part and a second shaft part cantilevered from the connector body, with a hollow roller snap fitted on the first shaft part and the second shaft part.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a divisional application from U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/748,473 filed on Jan. 23, 2013. The presentapplication claims priority from Japanese Application No.: JP2012-013283 filed on Jan. 25, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an article conveyor belt for conveyingan article by pushing the article in a predetermined direction to apredetermined position. In particular, the present invention relates toan article conveyor belt suitable for conveying a light-weight article,such as a monetary coin, to a predetermined direction by pushing, whosemanufacturability and maintainability is cost effective. Furthermore,the present invention relates to a coin sorting device using the articleconveyor belt.

2. Description of Related Art

As a first prior art, a coin conveyor belt in which a toothed surface,including a plurality of tooth parts that engage with a pulley, areprovided to a belt body is known, wherein each tooth part extends in abelt width direction with a space along a belt length direction. A largetooth part is provided at predetermined pitches among these tooth parts,the large tooth part having at least one of a tooth height dimension anda tooth length direction set larger than that of other tooth parts, andan engaging plate for engaging with a coin for conveyance when the beltis driven as provided on a side surface of this large tooth part (forexample, refer to Japanese Patent No. 3588480).

As a second prior art, a coin conveyor belt is known, including a beltbody provided with a plurality of hole portions penetrating throughfront and back surfaces along a coin conveying direction and is alsoprovided at a plurality of positions in a belt width direction crossingthe coin conveying direction. The coin conveyor belt also includes aplurality of projections each having a coin pushing part engaged with afront surface side of this belt body, an insertion part arranged insidea hole portion of the belt body, a holding part engaged with a backsurface side of the belt body to hold the belt body with a coin pushingpart, and a detent part for stopping any rotation with respect to thebelt body. The projections are provided with an inclined surface on aside of the coin pushing part opposite to the coin conveying direction.The inclined surface being inclined from a belt body side of the coinpushing part toward a projection tip side of the coin pushing part, andthe projections being allowed to be inserted into the hole portions ofthe belt body and engaged with the belt body, with the inclined surfacepart being positioned on the side opposite to the coin conveyingdirection of the coin pushing part (for example, refer to JapanesePatent No. 3725720).

As a third prior art, a coin conveyor belt is known having a toothedsurface including a plurality of tooth parts engaging with a pulleybeing provided on a thermosetting urethane-made belt body, each of thetooth parts being spaced apart in a belt length direction and extendingin a belt width direction. A large tooth part is provided with everypredetermined pitch among the tooth parts, the large tooth part with atleast one of a tooth height dimension and a tooth length dimension beingset to be larger than that of the other tooth parts, and the belt,including an engaging plate, being provided on a side surface of thislarge tooth part. The engaging plate permits engaging and conveying acoin when the belt runs, wherein the engaging plate is formed in a pushpin shape having a pin part. A pin hole is provided on the large toothpart to extend in its width direction, and the coin conveyor belt ismounted on the side surface of the large tooth part with the pin part ofthe engaging plate inserted in the pin hole, wherein t represents athickness of a bottom part, H represents a tooth height from a pitchline, h represents a tooth height, R represents a root, and W representsa width among shape elements of the large tooth part. The coin conveyorbelt has a shape satisfying the following relationships of t≧0.6 mm,t/D≦0.034 where D represents a back-surface idler pulley diameter,H/D≦0.12 and h/D≦0.096, and W/D≦0.174 and R/D>0.02. For example, referto Japanese Patent Application No. 20106563.

As a fourth prior art, a profile-equipped belt having belt teethengaging with pulley teeth of a toothed pulley and having a profilemounted thereon is also known. The belt width is set wider than a lengthof the toothed pulley in a center axis direction and the profileincludes a profile body with a projection piece projecting from asubstrate in contact with a back surface side and a nail part formedintegrally with the profile body and positioned on a tooth surface sideto be engaged with a relevant belt tooth. A substrate is set to have alength covering a plurality of teeth and tooth grooves of the toothedbelt so as to inhibit falling of the profile body and to be resistant toany reaction force received from an article to be conveyed and, by beingcurved in the belt width direction to be shrunk. A side edge partprojecting from the toothed pulley across a belt width direction isinserted and held between the nail part and the substrate from insidewithin the belt width direction. (For example, refer to Japanese PatentNo. 4313409).

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the first to third prior art, a toothed belt having teeth fortransmission of a motive power formed on an inner surface side includesa tooth with a height different from those of the other teeth, is formedfor each predetermined pitch and a base part of the pushers for anarticle is mounted on this tooth with a different height.

Therefore, since the toothed belt has a tooth with a height differentfrom those of the other teeth, it is required to form a recessed partwith a different height for every predetermined pitch on a toothedpulley around which the toothed belt is wound. In other words, suchtypes of a toothed belt and a toothed pulley both have a specialstructure, which restricts the use and therefore increases cost, andtherefore quick adoption to alternative sized articles is difficult.

In the fourth prior art, a tooth-side holder having a shapeapproximately fitting between the teeth at a predetermined position ofthe toothed belt and having uniform teeth is arranged on anothernon-tooth-side holder on a back side of the belt. The toothed belt isheld by the tooth-side holder and the non-tooth-side holder for fixing,and an article is pushed by pushers integrally foamed with thetooth-side holder or the non-tooth-side holder for conveyance.Therefore, a normal toothed belt can be used, and thus the fourth priorart is excellent in cost.

However, since a main body configuring the toothed belt is made ofsynthetic rubber or synthetic fiber, expansion and degradation due todegradation with time are inevitable. In other words, replacement of thetoothed belt is inevitable.

In the fourth prior art, a flat belt is deformed so as to have asubstantially narrow width by being warped in a width direction betweenpaired projection pieces formed in an inverted C shape, thereby mountingthe pushers on the toothed belt. Therefore, while this technology can beadopted when the pushers are mounted on a toothed belt with a relativelywide width to, allow warping in a width direction, there is a problem inthe case of a belt with a narrow width that is not able to be warped ina width direction so that the belt cannot be inserted between pairedprojection pieces. That is, it is unsuitable to move small devices inwhich a width of the toothed belt cannot be widened and the toothed belthas to be a substantially rigid body in the width direction.

To address this problem, when a toothed belt with a narrow width isused, a structure was considered by our inventor in which, a flat-platesubstrate is pressed onto a back surface of the toothed belt with anarrow width and a holder pressed on a tooth side for a base part of theprofile, and toothed-belt side end side parts of these substrate andholder are connected by connecting means. In this structure, however,there are problems in which the pushers are fixed to the toothed belt bythe connecting means and therefore a special tool is required and thereplacing operation is troublesome. To address this problem, it wasconsidered that the entire belt with the pushers could be integrallyformed, but replacing even a pusher still usable could not be quicklyadopted in view of both resource saving and energy saving.

A first object of the present invention is to provide an articleconveyor belt allowing pushers for pushing an article to be easilymounted on and removed from a toothed belt substantially withoutelasticity in a width direction in which the same teeth are formed withpredetermined pitches.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a coin sortingdevice using an article conveyor belt allowing pushers for pushing anarticle to be easily mounted on and removed from a toothed beltsubstantially without elasticity in a width direction in which the sameteeth are formed with predetermined pitches.

To achieve these objects, a first embodiment according to the presentinvention is configured as follows. In an article conveyor belt in whichan article is pushed by pushers integrally provided on a toothed belthaving teeth for transmission of motive power with predeterminedpitches, the pushers, each have a mount part for mounting on the toothedbelt and a pushing part for the article integrally formed on the mountpart. The mount part is formed into a gate-like shape by a tooth-sideholder positioned on a tooth side of the toothed belt and anon-tooth-side holder positioned on the non-tooth side. A connectorconnects on one side-edge side of the toothed belt, and has a hookformed at a tip of at least the tooth-side holder or the non-tooth-sideholder to engage with an end edge on a non-connector side of the toothedbelt.

A second embodiment is directed to an article conveyor belt wherein thetooth-side holder is formed as a trapezoidal shape approximately fittingin a trapezoidal pulley tooth receiving groove between the teeth formedat the predetermined pitches. The non-tooth-side holder is formed as aflat surface in close contact with a back surface of the toothed belt.

A third embodiment is directed to a coin sorting device in which anarticle conveyor belt, in which a coin is pushed to a predetermineddirection along a guide rail by an article conveyor belt, has pushersintegrally provided on a toothed belt. The toothed belt has teeth fortransmission of motive power with predetermined pitches, each pusher hasa mount part for mounting on the toothed belt and a pushing part, forengaging an article, integrally formed on this mount part. The mountpart is formed in a gate-like shape by a tooth-side holder positioned ona tooth side of the toothed belt and a non-tooth-side holder orpositioned on a non-tooth side. A connector connects these on oneside-edge side of the toothed belt, and has a hook formed at a tip of atleast the tooth-side holder or the non-tooth-side holder to engage withan end edge on a non-connector side of the toothed belt.

A fourth embodiment is directed to a coin sorting device, wherein thetooth-side holder is formed as a trapezoidal shape for approximatelyfitting in a trapezoidal pulley tooth receiving groove between teethformed at predetermined pitches, and the non-tooth-side holder is formedas a flat surface in close contact with a back surface of the toothedbelt.

A fifth embodiment is directed to a coin sorting device wherein thepushing part projects in parallel and in a reverse direction to themount part.

A sixth embodiment is directed to a coin sorting device wherein thepushing part is configured with a shaft formed in a columnar shape and ametal-made roller rotatably supported by the shaft.

A seventh embodiment is directed to the coin sorting device wherein ashaft is formed in an approximately columnar shape by a first shaft partand a second shaft part having an arc peripheral surface with a slotformed from a free-end side toward an non-free-end side, and the rolleris mounted by warping the first shaft part and the second shaft part.

Effect of the Invention

In the first embodiment, the tooth-side holder and the non-tooth-sideholder are integrally formed by a connector to configure a gate-shapedmount part, and the hook is formed at a tip of at least either one ofthe tooth-side holder and the non-tooth-side holder to be closelyengaged with a side end edge of the toothed belt. The pushing part isformed integrally with the mount part for pushing the article.

Therefore, with the tooth-side holder being inserted between the teethformed with predetermined pitches, the movement of the mount part withrespect to the toothed belt in a longitudinal direction is regulated.Also, with the connector being in close contact with the end edge of thetoothed belt and the hook formed on the tooth-side holder or thenon-tooth-side holder being engaged by the hook with the end edge of thebelt on an opposite side, the movement of the toothed belt in a widthdirection can be regulated.

With the toothed belt held by the tooth-side holder or thenon-tooth-side holder and the belt end edge being hooked by the hook,the article pushers can be mounted on the toothed belt so as not toeasily fall off. At an appropriate time for removal or replacement, theservice person can easily remove the hook from the toothed belt and pullout the tooth-side holder or the non-tooth-side holder. Thus, thepresent invention has an advantage of easy manufacture and maintenance.

In the second embodiment, the tooth-side holder is formed in atrapezoidal shape for approximately fitting into a trapezoidal pulleytooth receiving groove between the teeth, and the non-tooth-side holderis formed as a flat surface in close contact with a back surface of thetoothed belt. Therefore, since the movement of tooth-side holder of themount part in a forward and backward direction is restricted by theanterior and posterior teeth, no shift occurs in a longitudinaldirection of the toothed belt. The present invention has an advantage inthat the article to be conveyed can be conveyed without a positionalshift.

In the third embodiment, the article conveyor belt is used in a coinsorting device. Therefore, the coin sorting device has an advantage ofboth easy manufacturing and easy maintenance of the coin conveyor belt.

In the fourth embodiment, the article conveyor belt of the secondinvention is used in a coin sorting device. Therefore, the coin sortingdevice has an advantage of both easy manufacture and easy maintenance ofthe coin conveyor belt. Furthermore, since a coin to be conveyed is notpositionally shifted, the present invention has an advantage in that thecoin can be conveyed accurately at a predetermined timing.

In the fifth embodiment, the pushing part projects in parallel and in areverse direction to the mount part. Therefore, the present inventionhas an advantage of easy operation of mounting and removal of the mountpart on and from the toothed belt.

In the sixth embodiment, the pushing part is configured with a shaftformed in a columnar shape and a metal-made roller is rotatablysupported by the shaft. Therefore, since the article to be conveyed isin contact with the metal-made roller and, in the case of a slidingcontact, the metal-made roller can rotate to avoid superfluous friction.Thus, the present invention has an advantage in that a coin can be moresmoothly conveyed and high durability is achieved.

In the seventh embodiment, a shaft is formed in an approximatelycolumnar shape by a first shaft part and a second shaft part, betweenwhich a slot is formed. Therefore, by warping the first shaft partand/or the second shaft part, an apparent diameter of the shaft part isreduced, and the roller can be mounted on the shaft part. In otherwords, since the roller can be mounted without using a tool, the presentinvention has an advantage of easy manufacture and maintenance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and features of the present invention, which are believed tobe novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. Thepresent invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation,together with further objects and advantages, may best be understood byreference to the following description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view of an article conveyor belt of a first embodimentaccording to the present invention being wound around a toothed pulley.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the article conveyor belt of the firstembodiment according to the present invention being wound around atoothed pulley.

FIG. 3(A) and FIG. 3(B) depict perspective views of a pusher, which is acomponent of the article conveyor belt of the first embodiment accordingto the present invention, FIG. 3(A) being a perspective view fromdiagonally lower right and FIG. 3(B) being a perspective view fromdiagonally lower left.

FIG. 4 is an A-A line sectional view in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a B-B line sectional view in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a toothed pulley for the articleconveyor belt of the first embodiment according to the present inventionwhen viewed from diagonally upper right.

FIG. 7 is a front view of the toothed belt for the article conveyor beltof the first embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the article conveyor belt ofthe first embodiment according to the present invention being woundaround the toothed pulley.

FIG. 9 is a D-D shear cross-sectional view in FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a coin sorting device of a second embodimentaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an E-E shear sectional view in FIG. 10.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of theinvention which set forth the best modes contemplated to carry out theinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with thepreferred embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intendedto limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, theinvention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications andequivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims, where features in oneembodiment can be incorporated into other embodiments. Furthermore, inthe following detailed description of the present invention, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious toone of ordinary skill in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well knownmethods, procedures and components have not been described in detail asnot to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention.

The preferred mode of the present invention is directed to an articleconveyor belt in which an article is pushed by pushers integrallyprovided on a toothed belt having teeth for transmission of motive powerwith predetermined pitches, the pushers each having a mount part formounting on the toothed belt and a pushing part for the articleintegrally formed on this mount part. The mount part being formed in agate shape by a tooth-side holder positioned on a tooth side of thetoothed belt and an non-tooth-side holder positioned on a non-toothside.

A connector connects the mount part on one side-edge side of the toothedbelt, and has a hook formed at a tip of at least the tooth-side holderor the non-tooth-side holder to engage with an end edge on anon-connector side of the toothed belt. The tooth-side holder beingformed as a trapezoidal shape approximately fitting in a trapezoidalpulley tooth receiving groove between the teeth formed at predeterminedpitches, and the non-tooth-side holder being formed as a flat surface inclose contact with a back surface of the toothed belt.

A coin sorting device can include an article conveyor belt in which acoin is pushed toward a predetermined direction along a guide rail bythe article conveyor belt having pushers integrally provided on atoothed belt having teeth for transmission of motive power withpredetermined pitches. Each pusher has a mount part for mounting on thetoothed belt and a pushing part for contacting an article integrallyformed on each mount part.

The mount part being formed in a gate shape by a tooth-side holderpositioned on a tooth side of the toothed belt and a non-tooth-sideholder positioned on a non-tooth side. A connector connecting the mountpart on one side-edge side of the toothed belt, and having a hook formedat a tip of at least the tooth-side holder or the non-tooth-side holderto engage with an end edge on a non-connector side of the toothed belt.The tooth-side holder being formed as a trapezoidal shape approximatelyfitting in a trapezoidal pulley tooth receiving groove between the teethformed at the predetermined pitches. The non-tooth-side holder beingformed as a flat surface in close contact with a back surface of thetoothed belt.

The pushing part projecting in parallel and in a reverse direction tothe mount part, the pushing part being configured of a shaft formed in acolumnar shape and a metal-made roller rotatably supported by the shaft.The shaft is formed in an approximately columnar shape by a first shaftpart and a second shaft part having an arc peripheral surface with aslot formed from a free-end side toward a non-free-end side.

The roller being mounted by warping the first shaft part and the secondshaft part during assembly.

A first embodiment is an example of an article conveyor belt 100according to the present invention.

As depicted in FIG. 1, an article conveyor belt 100 according to thepresent invention has a function of pushing an article 106 in apredetermined direction (in FIG. 1, in an arrow X direction) by a pusher104 integrally mounted on a toothed belt 102. That is, the articleconveyor belt 100 is configured with the toothed belt 102 and the pusher104 is configured separately and fixed to the toothed belt 102.

First, the toothed belt 102 is described with reference mainly to FIGS.1, 2, and 5. The toothed belt 102 in the present invention is a generalcommercially-available toothed belt (including both of a toothed beltstandardized by specifications and a toothed belt manufactured as notbeing normalized with special dimensions) having each tooth 114 formedin the same trapezoidal shape at predetermined uniform pitches on aninner surface side 112 of a flexible ring-shaped belt 108 and having anouter surface side 116 with a flat back surface 118.

When the arrow X direction in FIG. 5 is taken as a travelling directionof the toothed belt 102 for convenience, than the tooth 114 has a fronttooth face 122F positioned at a front portion in the travellingdirection and a back tooth face 122B is tilted so as to come closer toeach other at the same angle as they go away from a belt portion 128.The tips of each tooth 114 are connected to each other with a top face132 formed in parallel with a back surface 118 to provide a crosssectional trapezoidal shape.

Therefore, a trapezoidal pulley tooth receiving groove 136 is formedbetween a front tooth 114F and a back tooth 114B. The pulley toothreceiving groove 136 has a space that is narrower as it comes closer tothe belt portion 128 side because of the slanted angles of the back-sidewall 112B of the front tooth 114 and the front tooth face 122F of theback tooth 114B, with their tips being connected with a bottom surface134 formed in parallel with the back surface 118.

Next, the pusher 104 is described with reference mainly to FIGS. 3A and3B. The pusher 104 is securely mounted on the toothed belt 102, and hasa function of pushing the article 106 in a predetermined directionaccording to the movement of the toothed belt 102 in the predetermineddirection. The pusher 104 has a mount part 142 for being inserted in(mounted on) the toothed belt 102 and a pushing part 144 integrated intothis mount part 142 for pushing the article 106.

The pusher 104 is preferably integrally molded from resin, although thetype of material is not to be considered restrictive. The use of amolded resin is to reduce cost and decrease weight. However, not onlyresin but also a metal can be used for fabrication. In the presentembodiment, the pusher 104 is integrally molded from resin.

Next, the mount part 142 is described. The mount part 142 has a functionof mounting the pusher 104 on the toothed belt 102 in a fixed state. Theterm fixed state refers to a state in which the substantial mountposition on the toothed belt 102 is not changed. In other words, it is astate in which the toothed belt 102 and the mount part 142 aresubstantially integrated together in operation. See FIGS. 4 and 5.

The mount part 142 is formed in a laterally-oriented gate shape (alaterally-oriented channel shape) by a tooth-side holder 148 positionedon a tooth side 146 (an inner surface side 112) of the toothed belt 102,a non-tooth-side holder 154 positioned on the non-tooth side 152 (anouter surface side 116) thereof, and a connector 158 connecting theseholders on one side-edge side 156 of the toothed belt 102. A hook 166 isformed at least at the tip of the tooth-side holder 148 or thenon-tooth-side holder 154 and is configured to engage another side endedge 164 of the toothed belt 102 on a non-connector side 162.

First, the tooth-side holder 148 is described. The tooth-side holder 148not only provides a tooth for engaging with a toothed pulley 216, SeeFIG. 6, but also functions to capture a toothed belt 102 with thenon-toothed side holder 154. The tooth-side holder 148 is insertedbetween adjacent teeth 114 on the inner surface side 112 of the toothedbelt 102, whereby a movement in an extending direction of the toothedbelt 102 is regulated with these teeth 114. The tooth side holder 148has a function of preventing, in coordination with the non-tooth-sideholder 154, any rotating with respect to the toothed belt 102. In otherwords, the tooth-side holder 148 is not substantially misaligned withrespect to a longitudinal direction of the toothed belt 102.

The tooth-side holder 148 is formed in a cross-sectional trapezoidalshape by a front-side holding surface 168, which is tilted atapproximately the same angle as that of the back tooth face 122B of thefront tooth 114F as shown in FIG. 5. The back-side holding surface 172is tilted at approximately the same angle as that of the front toothface 122F of the back tooth 114B, and a tooth-side top face 174 connectsthe respective tips. Specifically, extension lines of the front-sideholding surface 168 and the back-side holding surface 172 cross to forman angle slightly smaller than an angle formed by extension lines of theback tooth face 122B of the front tooth 114F and the front tooth face122F of the back tooth 114B. This arrangement is to allow winding arounda toothed pulley 216, which will be described further below.

While a tooth-side back surface 176 facing the tooth-side top face 174is shown formed in an arc shape in a first embodiment, this can bealternatively flatly formed. In other words, the tooth-side holder 148is formed in the same shape so as to fit in the pulley tooth receivinggroove 136. Therefore, when the pusher 104 is mounted on the toothedbelt 102, the tooth-side holder 148 is integrated with the front tooth114F and the back tooth 114B to form one pusher tooth 180 larger thanthe tooth 114. The pusher tooth 180 has a tooth length (a length in alongitudinal direction of the toothed belt 102) approximately threetimes larger than that of the normal tooth 114, and has a tooth heightequal to or higher than that of the normal tooth 114.

Also, the tooth-side holder 148 is formed so that its thickness (in FIG.5, a length in a vertical direction) has a Young's modulus so that thetooth-side holder 148 is not substantially deformed in a longitudinaldirection. Specifically, as depicted in FIG. 5, the tooth-side backsurface 176 is formed in an arc shape so as to have a thickness thickerthan the height of the tooth 114. This is because an increase in heightcan improve the Young's modulus if the pitch of the teeth 114, theYoung's modulus, and the material are taken into consideration.

Furthermore, as depicted in FIG. 4, the tooth-side holder 148 is formedso as to have a length equal to the width of the toothed belt 102. Thisis because even if the length of the tooth-side holder 148 is longerthan the width of the belt 102, there is no favorable influence on theholding force of the pusher 104 and restrictions on design are increasedinstead.

Therefore, if the tooth-side holder 148 is inserted into (fits in) thepulley tooth receiving groove 136, the front-side holding surface 168comes closer to the back tooth face 122B and the back-side holdingsurface 172 comes closer to the front tooth face 122F, and thetooth-side top face 174 is arranged to be closer to the bottom surface134. Therefore, the tooth-side holder 148 is not displaced with respectto the toothed belt 102 in its extending direction.

Note that since the toothed belt 102 is in an arc shape, at a portionwhere the toothed pulley 216 is wound around a pulley shaft, the fronttooth face 122F and the back tooth face 122B are formed so as to be inintimate contact with the front-side holding surface 168 and theback-side holding surface 172, respectively.

Also, corners of the tooth-side holder 148 on a toothed belt 102 sideare beveled to form a first inclined surface 178. This is to facilitateinsertion of the tooth-side holder 148 and the non-tooth-side holder 154onto the belt 102.

Next, a non-tooth-side holder 154 is described. The non-tooth-sideholder 154 has a function of mounting the pushing part 144 together withthe tooth-side holder 148 onto the toothed belt 102 so that they do notrotate. The non-tooth-side holder 154 is formed, in parallel to thetooth-side top face 174, on a nipper plane 179 capable of being insurface contact with the flat back surface 118 of the toothed belt 102on the non-tooth side 152 and, furthermore, is formed so as not besubstantially deformed. The non-tooth-side holder 154 has a width Wformed to be approximately twice as large as the tooth-side top face174. This is because, while the width W is preferably wider forpreventing the pusher 104 from falling toward the toothed belt 102, ifthe width is too long in consideration with a curve at the toothedpulley 216, this may work disadvantageously.

The non-tooth-side holder 154 has a length L formed longer than thewidth of the toothed belt 102 to accommodate the formation of the hook166. The hook 166 has a right-angled short surface formed toward thetooth-side holder 148 so as to form a right angle with respect to thenipper plane 179. The hook 166 preferably has a height approximatelyhalf of the thickness of the belt portion 128. This is because insertinginto the belt 102 is difficult if the height is too high and theengagement is insufficient if the height is too low.

A space between the hook 166 and the connector 158 is set to be equal toor slightly larger than a width BW of the belt 102. This is tofacilitate engagement of the hook 166 with the other side end edge 164of the toothed belt 102 and prevent easy detachment. The non-tooth-sideholder 154 has a tip preferably formed on a second inclined surface 170.This is to facilitate insertion of the toothed belt 102.

Next, the connector 158 is described. The connector 158 has a functionof connecting the tooth-side holder 148 and the non-tooth-side holder154 at a base end so that these holders are arranged in parallel to eachother with a predetermined distance away from each other. The tooth-sideholder 148 and the non-tooth-side holder 154 are arranged in parallelwith a length corresponding to a thickness T of the belt 102 away fromeach other. The connector 158 is also formed so as not to besubstantially deformed in order to keep parallelism between thetooth-side holder 148 and the non-tooth-side holder 154.

Specifically, a space between the tooth-side holder 148 and thenon-tooth-side holder 154 is formed so as to be equal to or slightlylarger than a thickness T1 of the belt portion 128 of the toothed belt102. When the connector 158 is integrally formed of resin together withthe tooth-side holder 148 and the non-tooth-side holder 154, theconnector 158 becomes slightly in the shape of an arc due to coolingafter molding to be deformed so that the tips of the tooth-side holder148 and the non-tooth-side holder 154 come close to each other.Therefore, in consideration of ease of mounting on the toothed belt 102,it is preferable that the space between the tooth-side holder 148 andthe non-tooth-side holder 154 is slightly larger than the thickness T1.

Therefore, the tooth-side holder 148 and the non-tooth-side holder 154are cantilevered and have their base ends connected via the connector158, thereby forming a shape of a channel between the holders 146, 154in a side view. In other words, with respect to the toothed belt 102,the tooth-side holder 148 is positioned on the tooth side 146, thenon-tooth-side holder 154 is positioned on the non-tooth side 152, andthe connector 158 is positioned on the one side-edge side 156 of thetoothed belt 102.

Also, an insertion opening 160 of a space larger than the thickness T ofthe toothed belt 102 is formed between the tips of the tooth-side holder148 and the non-tooth-side holder 154. In detail, the tips of the firstinclined surface 178 and the hook 166 are formed so as to be a distanceD away from each other, the distance being larger than the thickness Tof the toothed belt 102. Therefore, the toothed belt 102 can have itsbelt portion 128 inserted from the insertion opening 160 to the spacebetween the tooth-side holder 148 and the non-tooth-side holder 154.

Next, the pushing part unit 144 is described. The pushing part unit 144has a function of pushing the article 106. The pushing part unit 144includes a connecting body part 182 and a pushing part 184 formedcontiguously to the connector 158.

The connecting body part 182 is described. The connecting body part 182is formed contiguously to the connector 158 and has a function ofsupporting the pushing part 184. In the first embodiment, the connectingpart 182 is formed in a flat plate shape together with the connector 158and is integrally formed of resin. The connecting body part 182 is alsoconfigured so as not to be substantially deformed when pushing thearticle 106.

Next, the pushing part 184 is described. The pushing part 184 has afunction of pushing the article 106, such as a coin on a supportsurface. In other words, a function of making contact with and pushingthe article 106. In a first embodiment, the pushing part 184 is aportion extending in parallel to and in reverse to the mount part 142.In other words, the mount part 132, the connector 158, the connectingbody part 182, and the pushing part 184 are formed in the shape of acrank as a whole. Therefore, although the pushing part 184 may be afixed body, the pushing part 184 is configured so as to be rotatably bya roller device 186 in the first embodiment.

Next, the roller device 186 is described. The roller device 186 includesa split shaft 188 and a roller 192, shown in FIG. 3(A) and FIG. 3(B).The shaft 188 is described first. A shaft body 194, in the shape of acolumn as a whole, is formed and projects a predetermined length in aright angle direction with respect to the connecting body part 182. Afree-end tip 196 of the shaft body 194 is formed in the shape of a conedtip inclined surface 198, and its oblique end 202 is formed so as tohave a diameter larger than that of the shaft body 194, thereby formingan engaging part 204 that forms a right angle with the shaft body 194.

The shaft body 194 has a slot 206 having a predetermined width from thetip toward a shaft base end, and is configured so that the diameter ofthe tip of the shaft body 194 can be reduced, where the hollow roller192 is fitted on the shaft body 194. The shaft body 194 is divided bythe slot 206 into a first shaft part 208 and a second shaft part 212,and their tips can be elastically deformed when an external force isapplied and can be substantially deformed to have a diametersubstantially smaller than the outer diameter of the shaft body 194.

The roller 192 is in a cylindrical shape, and can be made of metal. Theroller 192 has an edge inner surface on which a step part 214 is formed,and has a center part in which a bearing hole 218 is bored.

With this structure, the tips of the first shaft part 208 and the secondshaft part 212 can be elastically deformed so as to come closer to eachother to reduce the outside diameter. Accordingly, the first shaft part208 and second shaft part 212 can be inserted into a bearing hole 218 ofthe roller 192 to bring the roller 192 into a snap fitting with theshaft body 194. With this fitting, if deformation of the first shaftpart 208 and the second shaft part 212 is released, the first shaft part208 and the second shaft part 212 return to be in the original state,and the outer diameter of the shaft body 194 becomes normal. With thisarrangement, the step part 214 of the roller 192 can contact theengaging part 204 fitting in the shaft 188 and engage with the step part214 in the roller 192 so that the roller 192 is thereby rotatablysupported on the shaft body 194 and will not fall off.

When the pusher 104 is mounted on the belt 102, the tooth-side holder148 is positioned to face the pulley tooth receiving groove 136 betweenadjacent teeth 114, and the non-tooth-side holder 154 is pushed to holdthe belt portion 128. The back surface 118 is brought into contact withthe holder so that the one side-edge part 156 of the toothed belt 102abuts on the connector 158. Accordingly, the hook 166 engages with theother side end edge 164 of the toothed belt 102, thereby preventing anyfalling off.

In the first embodiment, a plurality of pushers 104 are mounted on thetoothed belt 102, by using the above-described mounting method atpredetermined positions so as to be mounted with predetermined pitches.

When the pusher 104 is to be replaced, a force can be applied so thatthe tips of the tooth-side holder 148 and the non-tooth-side holder 154are separated from each other to result in a deformation of theconnector 158, thereby permitting removal of the pusher 104 by releasingan engagement of the hook 166 with the other side end edge 164 of thetoothed belt 102. Then, a new pusher 104 can be mounted by using aprocedure similar to that described above.

Next, the toothed pulley 216 around which the article conveyor belt 100is wound is described mainly with reference to FIG. 6 to FIG. 9. Thetoothed pulley 216 is in a disc shape, and has at least a pulley bearinghole 220 for mounting on a rotating shaft or a fixed shaft and a pulleyteeth part 222 engaging with the teeth 114 of the toothed belt 102. Inthe present embodiment, the toothed pulley 216 further includes, on atleast one side, a belt holding plate 224 in a notched circular plateconfiguration shown in FIG. 7.

First, the pulley bearing hole 220 is described. In the pulley bearinghole 220, the rotating shaft (not shown) is inserted and fixed to thetoothed pulley 216 when the toothed pulley 216 is used as a drivepulley, and is alternatively rotatably mounted on the fixed shaft via abearing when the toothed pulley 216 is used as a driven pulley.

Next, the pulley teeth part 222 is described. The pulley teeth part 222has a function of engaging with the teeth 114 of the toothed belt 102 totransmit a driving force.

In the present embodiment, the pulley teeth part 222 is configured ofnormal teeth parts 226 formed with predetermined first pitches and aspecial tooth part 228 interposed between the normal teeth parts 226 andformed with a predetermined second pitches. The normal teeth part 226 isconfigured of pulley teeth 232 closely engaging with the teeth 114 ofthe toothed belt 102, and a predetermined number of pulley teeth 232 arecontiguously formed. In the first embodiment, four contiguous pulleyteeth 232 are formed with the first predetermined pitches. Thepredetermined number of teeth are contiguously formed in order totransmit a predetermined driving force to the toothed belt 102.

The pulley teeth 232 are formed of an anterior tooth surface 234 and aposterior tooth surface 236 in a rotating direction when the toothedpulley rotates in a counterclockwise direction in FIG. 7, and anarc-shaped top face 238 connecting these surfaces, and a bottom surface242. Therefore, in a portion where the toothed belt 102 is wound aroundthe toothed pulley 216, the anterior tooth surface 234 is in contactwith the back tooth face 122B of the toothed belt 102, the posteriortooth surface 236 is in contact with the front tooth face 122F thereof,and the top face 238 is in contact with the bottom surface 134. With theback tooth face 122B being pushed by the anterior tooth surface 234, adriving force is transmitted to the toothed belt 102.

The special tooth part 228 is formed so as to receive the pusher tooth180. Specifically, one of normal pulley teeth 232 is deleted, and thespecial tooth part has a depth DL formed so as to be deeper than anormal depth DN. In other words, the special tooth part 228, which has atrapezoidal space, is formed of an anterior tooth surface 234L of thespecial tooth part formed by engraving to a bottom 242 side from theanterior tooth surface 234, a posterior tooth surface 236L of thespecial tooth part formed by engraving to the bottom 242 side from theposterior tooth surface 236, and a special-tooth-part bottom surface242L.

Therefore, the back tooth face 122B of the toothed belt 102 is pushed bythe special-tooth-part anterior tooth surface 234L of the toothed pulley216 to transmit a driving force. The special tooth parts 228 are formedwith pitches that are equal to or a submultiple of pitches of thepushers 104 mounted on the toothed belt 102. This is because the pushertooth 180 will face the special tooth part 228. The toothed belt 102 iswound around the toothed pulley 216 so that the pusher 180 is positionedat the special tooth part 228 and normal teeth 114 engage with normalteeth part 226.

Next, the belt holding plate 224 is described. The belt holding plate224 has a function of guiding so that the toothed belt 102 is notremoved during operation from the pulley 216. Therefore, the beltholding plate 224 is not required to be provided when there is nopossibility for the toothed belt 102 to fall off from the toothed pulley216.

While the belt holding plate 224 is arranged in a ring shape on theouter perimeter of the pulley tooth 232 on a side positioned below thetooth belt 102 because the toothed pulley 216 rotates about a tiltedaxial line in the first embodiment, it is preferred that belts holdingplates 224 are arranged on both sides when the toothed pulley 216rotates about a horizontal axial line.

The article conveyor belt 100 according to the first embodiment isprovided so as to be stretched between the paired toothed pulleys 216with either one of the toothed pulleys 216 being set as a drive pulleyand the other being set as a driven pulley. An article 106 is pushed bythe pushers 104, therefore, the pushing part 144, specifically theroller 192, associated with the movement of the toothed belt 102 to beconveyed in a predetermined direction. Note that the article 106 isguided by a guide rail (not shown) to be conveyed to the predetermineddirection.

Second Embodiment

Next, a second embodiment is described with reference to FIG. 10 andFIG. 11. The second embodiment is an example in which an articleconveyor belt 100 according to the first embodiment is used as a coinconveyor belt 246 in a coin sorting device 244 and, specifically, is anexample in which a chain 232, shown for example in Japanese UnexaminedPatent Application Publication No. 2007-114978, is replaced by thearticle conveyor belt 100.

The coin sorting device 244 has a function of sorting coin 248 conveyedby the coin conveyor belt 246 into denomination sorting units, andincludes the coin conveyor belt 246, a guide rail 252, and denominationsorting units 254. The coin conveyor belt 246 is provided so as to bestretched as being wound around paired toothed pulleys 216, circulatingthrough a flat oval route. Therefore, the pushers 104 also circulatethrough a flat oval route.

Next, a guide rail 252 is described. The guide rail 252 has a functionof guiding a lower peripheral surface 256 and a lower surface 258 ofeach coin 248 pushed by the coin conveyor belt 246, and includes aperipheral-surface guide rail 262 at a right angle guiding the lowerperipheral surface 256 and a lower-surface guide rail 264 guiding thelower surface 258. Therefore, a coin 248 pushed by the pushers 104 arelinearly conveyed through the denomination sorting units 254 with thelower surface 258 being guided by the lower-surface guide rail 264tilted at approximately 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal lineand the lower peripheral surface 256 being guided by theperipheral-surface guide rail 262.

The peripheral-surface guide rail 262 has a function of guiding theperipheral surface of the coin 248 for movement through the denominationsorting units 254 and, in the second embodiment, is formed as a railhaving a narrow width and forming a right angle with respect to thelower-surface guide rail 264 as a whole. Specifically, theperipheral-surface guide rail 262 is formed to have a right angle bymobile peripheral-surface guide rails 268 each arranged between fixedperipheral-surface guide rails 266 arranged with predetermined pitches.However, when the denomination sorting units 254 are each arranged onlyon the lower-surface guide rail 264, the peripheral-surface guide rail262 can be configured only of the fixed peripheral-surface guide rail266.

The mobile peripheral-surface guide rails 268 are each provided so as tobe able to jut and sink from the lower-surface guide rail 264. Whenpositioned at a peripheral-surface guide position PGP as jutting upwardfrom the lower-surface guide rail 264, the mobile peripheral-surfaceguide rail 268 configures the peripheral-surface guide rail 262 at theright angle together with the fixed peripheral surface guide rail 266.When positioned at a non-guide position as moving downward from thelower-surface guide rail 264, the mobile peripheral-surface guide rail268 does not configure the peripheral-surface guide rail 262 but isconfigured as a first coin falling port 272, which can serve one or moredenomination sorting units 254.

While five mobile peripheral-surface guide rails 268 are arranged inFIG. 10, since the mobile peripheral-surface guide rail 268 at the rightend is the return falling port 273 for return, and therefore four mobileperipheral-surface guide rails 268 from the left end configure the firstcoin falling ports 272, which are the denomination sorting units 254 forfour denominations.

The lower-surface guide rail 264 has a function of guiding the lowersurface 258 of the coin 248 for movement through the denominationsorting units 254 and, in the second embodiment, is formed as a flatsurface tilted at 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal line as awhole. Specifically, the lower-surface guide rail 264 substantiallyforms a tilted flat surface by a mobile lower-surface guide rail 278arranged on a second coin falling port 276 between the fixedlower-surface guide rails 274 arranged with the predetermined pitches.However, when the denomination sorting unit 254 is arranged only on theperipheral-surface guide rail 262, the lower-surface guide rail 264 canbe configured only of the fixed lower-surface guide rail 274.

The mobile lower-surface guide rails 278 are each provided so as to beable to jut and sink from the lower-surface guide rail 264. Whenpositioned at a guide position SGP flush with the lower-surface guiderail 264, the mobile lower-surface guide rail 278 configures thelower-surface guide rail 264, as shown in FIG. 11. When positioned at anon-guide position NGP as moving downward from the lower-surface guiderail 264, the mobile lower-surface guide rail 278 does not configure thelower-surface guide rail 264 but configures a second coin falling port276, which is for one denomination sorting unit 254.

In the second embodiment, four mobile lower-surface guide rails 278 arearranged so as to be in series in a vertical direction with respect tothe mobile peripheral-surface guide rails 268. In other words, when themobile peripheral-surface guide rail 268 at one position is configuredto be a non-guide position, the coin 248 slides diagonally downward tobe sorted to the first coin falling port 272. When the mobilelower-surface guide rail 278 moves to the non-guide position NGP, thecoin 248 falls straight down to be sorted to the second coin fallingport 276.

In the second embodiment, the coins 248 of eight denominations, that is,two euro, one euro, 50 cents, 20 cents, 10 cents, 5 cents, 2 cents, and1 cent of euro coins, are sorted, and therefore the first coin fallingports 272 and the second coin falling ports 276, which are eightdenomination sorting units 254, are each set so that coins 248 of apredetermined denomination is sorted (falls down).

Next, the operation of the coin sorting device 244 of the secondembodiment is described. The coins 248 are separated by the previousprocess and are passed over to the coin sorting device 244. In the coinsorting device 244, the coin 248 is pushed by the pushers 104, thereforethe pushing part 184, in detail the roller 192, to proceed through thecoin sorting unit 254 with its lower surface 258 being guided by thelower-surface guide rails 264 (the fixed lower-surface guide rail 274and the mobile lower-surface guide rail 278) and the lower peripheralsurface 256 being guided by the peripheral-surface guide rails 262 (thefixed peripheral-surface guide rail 266 and the mobileperipheral-surface guide rail 268).

Then, when a predetermined mobile peripheral-surface guide rail 268moves to the non-guide position, the lower peripheral surface 256 is notsupported by the mobile peripheral-surface guide rail 268, and thereforethe coin 248, falls down under its own weight to the first coin fallingport 272 at a portion where the mobile peripheral-surface guide rail 268moving to the non-guide position has been positioned to be sorted to apredetermined denomination.

When the mobile lower-surface guide rail 278 moves to the non-guideposition NGP, the lower surface 258 is not supported by the mobilelower-surface guide rail 278, and therefore the coin 248, falls downunder its own weight to the second coin falling port 276 at a portionwhere the mobile peripheral-surface guide rail 268 moving to thenon-guide position NGP has been positioned to be sorted to apredetermined denomination.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

-   -   100 article conveyor belt    -   102 toothed belt    -   104 pusher    -   106 article    -   108 ring-shaped belt    -   112 inner surface side    -   114 tooth    -   116 outer surface side    -   118 flat back surface    -   122 tooth face    -   128 belt portion    -   132 top face    -   134 bottom surface    -   136 pulley tooth receiving groove    -   142 mount part    -   144 pushing part unit    -   146 tooth side    -   148 tooth-side holder    -   152 non-tooth side    -   154 non-tooth-side holder    -   156 one side-edge side    -   158 connector    -   160 insertion opening    -   162 non-connector side    -   164 side end edge    -   166 hook    -   168 front-side holding surface    -   170 second inclined surface    -   172 back-side holding surface    -   174 tooth-side top face    -   176 tooth-side back surface    -   178 first inclined surface    -   179 nipper plane    -   180 pusher tooth    -   182 connecting body part    -   184 pushing part    -   186 roller device    -   188 split shaft    -   192 hollow roller    -   194 shaft body    -   196 free-end tip    -   198 coned tip inclined surface    -   202 oblique end    -   204 engaging part    -   206 slot    -   208 first shaft part    -   212 second shaft part    -   214 step part    -   216 paired toothed pulley    -   218 bearing hole    -   220 pulley bearing hole    -   222 pulley teeth part    -   224 belt holding plate    -   226 normal teeth parts    -   228 special tooth part    -   232 pulley teeth    -   232 chain (same # as pulley teeth)    -   234 anterior tooth surface    -   236 posterior tooth surface    -   238 arc-shaped top face    -   242 bottom surface    -   244 coin sorting device    -   246 coin conveyor belt    -   248 sorting cone    -   252 guide rail    -   254 denomination sorting units    -   256 lower peripheral surface    -   258 lower surface of coin    -   262 peripheral-surface guide rail    -   264 lower-surface guide rail    -   266 fixed peripheral-surface guide rails    -   268 mobile peripheral-surface guide rails    -   272 first coin falling port    -   273 return falling port    -   274 fixed lower-surface guide rails    -   276 second coin falling port    -   278 mobile lower-surface guide rail

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations andmodifications of the just-described preferred embodiment can beconfigured without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the amendedclaims, the invention may be practiced other than as specificallydescribed herein.

1. An article conveyor belt assembly in which an article is pushed bypushers removably mounted on a toothed belt having teeth fortransmission of motive power with predetermined pitches, comprising: thepushers each having a mount part for mounting on the toothed belt and apushing part, for the article, formed on the mount part, wherein themount part is positioned on a tooth side of the toothed belt and anon-tooth-side holder is positioned on a non-tooth side; and a connectorconnecting the mount part on one side-edge side of the toothed belt, andhaving a hook formed at a tip of at least the tooth-side holder or thenon-tooth-side holder to engage with an end edge on a non-connector sideof the toothed belt.
 2. The article conveyor belt assembly according toclaim 1, wherein the tooth-side holder is formed in a trapezoidal shapefor approximately fitting in a trapezoidal pulley tooth receiving groovebetween the teeth formed at the predetermined pitches, and thenon-tooth-side holder is formed as a flat surface in close contact witha back surface of the toothed belt.
 3. The article conveyor beltassembly according to claim 1 wherein the mount part includes acantilevered tooth side holder and a cantilevered non-tooth side holderwith a space separating the tooth side holder and the non-tooth sideholder configured to receive a thickness of the toothed belt, the mountpart is configured of a material flexible enough to enable the toothbelt to deform a position of the hook for mounting and removing thepusher.
 4. The article conveyer belt assembly according to claim 1wherein the pushers each have a pushing part unit integrally formed withthe mount part including a first cantilevered shaft and a secondcantilevered shaft spaced from each other, and a hollow rollerconfigured to snap mount for capturing the respective first cantileveredshaft and the second cantilevered shaft.
 5. The article conveyor beltassembly according to claim 4 wherein a connector body part isintegrally connected at a first end to the mount part on a first side ofthe connector body part and the connector body part is integrallyconnected at a second end to the pushing part unit which is on a secondside of the connector body part opposite to the first side of theconnector body part. 6.-17. (canceled)
 18. An article conveyor beltassembly in which an article is pushed by pushers integrally provided ona toothed belt having teeth for transmission of motive power withpredetermined pitches, comprising: the pushers each having a mount partfor mounting on the toothed belt and a pushing part for the articleformed on the mount part, wherein the mount part being formed in a gateshape by a tooth-side holder is positioned on a tooth side of thetoothed belt and a non-tooth side holder is positioned on a non-toothside; and a connector connecting the mount part on one side-edge side ofthe toothed belt, and having a hook formed at a tip of at least thetooth side holder or the non-tooth side holder to engage with an endedge on a non-connector side of the toothed belt, wherein the mount partincludes a cantilevered tooth side holder and a cantilevered non-toothside holder with a space separating the tooth side holder and thenon-tooth side holder configured to receive a thickness of the toothedbelt, the mount part is configured of a material flexible enough toenable the tooth belt to deform a position of the hook for mounting andremoving the pusher.
 19. The article conveyor belt assembly of claim 18wherein a hollow roller is configured to snap mount on a shaft body ofthe pushing part.
 20. The article conveyor belt assembly of claim 19wherein the shaft body is split into a first shaft part and a secondshaft part that are configured to elastically deform to mount the hollowroller.
 21. An article conveyor belt assembly in which an article ispushed by pushers removably mounted on a toothed belt having teeth fortransmission of motive power with predetermined pitches, comprising: thepushers each having a mount part for mounting on the toothed belt and apushing part for the article formed on the mount part, wherein the mountpart is positioned on a tooth side of the toothed belt and anon-tooth-side holder is positioned on a non-tooth side; and a connectorconnecting the mount part on one side-edge of the toothed belt, andhaving a hook formed at a tip of at least the tooth-side holder or thenon-tooth-side holder to engage with an end edge on a non-connector sideof the toothed belt, wherein the pushing part is configured to beintegrally connected to the mount part and includes a first cantileveredshaft and a second cantilevered shaft spaced from each other, and ahollow roller configured to snap mount for capturing the respectivefirst cantilevered shaft and the second cantilevered shaft forcontacting the article.